


Can You Show Me What This Life is For

by renegadeartist



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 20:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1441381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renegadeartist/pseuds/renegadeartist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan knew very well what "meeting up with Jack" meant. With his high standing position along with Geoff's he was the only one of the trio that lacked any recognition in his name. Ryan Haywood. Who? Exactly. But they held high positions in the City and that was a godsend for someone like him. It was hard to get your ideas realized in a city of geniuses that all had something to share. In result, it was a miracle for Ryan to have the size apartment that he did, ten by ten. Because of the size restrictions the average apartment was five by five-a nightmare that Ryan was eager to forget.</p>
<p>Tl:Dr a meeting with Jack meant a meeting with possible employers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can You Show Me What This Life is For

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so story time but before that some warnings and happy birthdays- warnings first, not much besides swearing and vague mentions of vomiting. If you have trouble with that kind of thing be careful. Happy birthday to Carley, also the person this is for.

There was a banging on the door. The room, being as small as it was, practically shook from the force. The only resident of the room-or, rather, apartment- fell out of the wall -hugging couch that took up a good fifth of the floor space. A string of bangs and curses ensued and there was an audible sigh from the other end of the door. "Did you fall asleep at your computer again?"

 

An indignant "No!" was the reply he got and it only pulled out another sigh.

 

"Fucking hell, Ryan. How many times do I have to tell you to sleep for once."

 

"I do sleep!"

 

"Mhmm. Whatever. Get dressed, you're meeting up with Jack today. If you want to keep that huge apartment then get out here in five minutes."

 

Ryan knew very well what "meeting up with Jack" meant. With his high standing position along with Geoff's he was the only one of the trio that lacked any recognition in his name. Ryan Haywood. Who? Exactly. But they held high positions in the City and that was a godsend for someone like him. It was hard to get your ideas realized in a city of geniuses that all had something to share. In result, it was a miracle for Ryan to have the size apartment that he did, ten by ten. Because of the size restrictions the average apartment was five by five-a nightmare that Ryan was eager to forget.

 

Tl:Dr a meeting with Jack meant a meeting with possible employers.

 

Which meant that he better get his ass out of his apartment or he was fucked. So he pulled on the suit splayed across the couch/bed and quickly put it on, straightening the cuffs and doublet. It was rumpled and light blue but it was the best he could do. It was Jack's old suit-from his own days as an engineer before he dropped off that life to dabble in politics and that was where he was today. He said he regretted it every day. The people were stiff necked bastards and unimaginative at that.

 

He stumbled out into the hall to find Geoff in an equally rumpled suit and tapping at a tablet. He hasn't slept either. "Hypocrite," he muttered.

 

"Jackass," he returned, putting his tablet away. He started walking and Ryan had no choice but to trot after him. Like a dog who's lost his master, he thought darkly. He hated having to depend on these people for his good fortune but he knew he had no choice. It was that or live on the streets and assemble crude robots out of spare wires. He had done that for a while, actually. People payed a little for souvenirs of the strange city.

 

Geoff led him to the dining floor and navigated the low white clothed tables with ease. He soon wound himself over to a bearded man with limp orange-brown hair. They both sat down and Jack looked up. "'Bout time you got here. Burnie's been waiting for a while now. They're starting to get impatient."

 

"Shit dude, you didn't say it was Burns coming."

 

"Wait wait wait," Ryan interjected, waving his hands in the air. This was bullshit. They were kidding. They didn't get Burnie Burns to listen to his dumbass theory. "You got me Burnie? As in Burns. _The_ Burnie Burns."

 

Geoff shot him a huge grin that said he was enjoying every minute of Ryan's stuttering. "The one and only."

 

"B-but I-I what?"

 

They burst out laughing, Geoff having to shove his fist into his mouth to stop them from getting thrown out. It wasn't often they saw the less than composed side of Ryan but it was damn funny when it showed itself. "Stop stuttering and get your notecards you nerd, you've got a presentation to show to Burnie Burns himself." He got up, grabbed the back of Ryan's suit jacket, and hauled him up, laughing all the while.

-.-

He was a nervous wreck. The cards in his hands shook and he was sure he was going to drop them any second now. The screen behind him showed the name of his work- artificial intelligence improvement. It was not a strange subject nor was it hard to think about. The only problem was that, to Ryan at least, they were far from complete people. That had stemmed his research an eventual inspiration for his project.

 

But Burnie was there and he wasn't sure he could speak through the clot in his throat and the hard rock sitting  in his chest. The clap on the back scared him so much he almost screamed, only stopping when he saw Geoff smiling at him. It wasn't his infamous smug grin or wide grin, it was like a dad congratulating his son after a baseball game. It was comforting. "Don't worry Ryan. You'll do fine. I know you will." Ryan gulped and nodded. "Great. Now go out there and kick some ass."

 

With that he shoved him out on stage an the first thing Ryan saw was the mop of curled hair and the interested eyes of Burnie Burns. Maybe he could do this. The first words out of his mouth proved otherwise. "I-I'm here to talk to you about my, um, research." He could practically feel their opinion of him sink down lower and lower. Ignoring the voice crack it was the worst way to start his presentation.

 

But he decided to be confident. It was how he delt with things. He decided he wouldn't be nervous and suddenly he wasn't. This was Burnie Burns for God's sakes! He wasn't going to stutter in front of him and if he did he would see himself personally offstage and box away the whole operation. If one thing could be said about Ryan was he had quite the grip on himself when he needed it.

 

"The theory of androids and AI's are far from unexplored." He looked down at his cards, trying to see past the haze of adrenalin that was keeping the nervousness at bay. It wasn't doing a very good job. "But in my-in my research these AI's are far from complete people. They tend to have some traits, yes, but they often lack a full persona. It would be like creating a character in writing that only has one facet of a personality. My proposal is to make an AI that has all facets of a real person."

 

That had gotten his attention.  He leaned forward, a look of concentration and consideration on his face. "From my research and even my experience in life I have noticed that what truly makes a person is their past experiences." He stopped to take a breath. Sometime between the beginning of his speech to his current place he had forgotten that Burnie and all the others were present. He was in his room, staring at his reflection in the worn mirror mounted over his sink. He was practicing, nothing more.

 

"So I propose one thing, and I feel it will speak for itself. I propose we make a generation of androids, AI's, whatever you want to call them, and have them develop as human children would. That is all." He practically raced off the stage. He had to leave, get somewhere safe. This wasn't a practice, and there were real high standing individuals present judging him and making the decision to throw him out in the street.

 

He found himself in the cold, empty bathroom and retched out what little food he had been able to stomach. The door opened and footsteps found their way to him. How long had he been kneeling on the frigid floor? He didn't know but the floor wasn't cold anymore. The person outside-Geoff, he assumed- knocked on his stall door. "Hey, Ryan. You alright?"

 

He nodded feebly, realizing that Geoff couldn't see him. "I'm fine, really." Oh God, he didn't sound alright at all. He shakily got to his feet and unlatched the stall.

 

"So they accepted your proposal."

 

There was a second of shock. His hand froze on the latch. They had? Why? The presentation was a disaster. It was, wasn't it? They had laughed out the stuttering scientist along with his ridiculous aspirations for the future. But, according to Geoff, they had accepted it. "Why?"

 

"Because you're suggesting something all the other big animatronics companies would never accept." He grabbed Ryan's shoulder and guided him out of the stall and into the plaster-walled hallway. "You know as well as I how unstable android children are."

 

He knew that just as any other person in his field would. Any attempt at making anything resembling a child artificially had ended terribly. They were unstable and not able to do the work or think in the same capacity as androids modeled after adults. "Well I mean I get that but still-"

 

"Ryan." Geoff had used his hand on Ryan's shoulder to spin him around to face him. The look on his face projected no bullshit. "Listen to me. You are just as talented and just as qualified as all the other science pricks out there. You're going to do this project and you are going to succeed. Now get your little ass to the lab and get working. You have the funding, now use it."

 

And that was the end of it.


End file.
